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Thursday, March 26, 2015

Hanna Reitsch: German Avaitrix and Test Pilot

Hello All,

Hanna Reitsch

To
continue with Women’s History Month, I would like to introduce you to Hanna
Reitsch, an accomplished German aviatrix and Nazi test pilot during World War
II. She was the only female to be awarded the Iron Cross First Class and the
Luftwaffe Pilot/Observer Badge in gold with diamonds. It is important to
remember that both sides of this horrific conflict suffered greatly and
triumphed in different ways, and while Hanna supported the opposing side, her
accomplishments surpassed those of the average woman of her day and age.

Hanna was
born 29 March 1912 in Hirschberg, Silesia (Now in Poland) to an upper
middle-class family. Her father was a doctor and hoped his daughter would
follow in his footsteps. Hanna agreed with her father but had her own unique
agenda in mind; a flying missionary doctor for Northern African countries. She
studied medicine at the Colonial School for Women and began flight training
soon after, in 1932, at the School of Gliding. She later enrolled in a German
Air Mail flying school for powered aircraft, adding to her skill set immensely.
Noticing her talents as a pilot, Hanna’s instructors encouraged her to become a
fulltime pilot. She decided to leave medical school in order to pursue a career
as a pilot/instructor for a gliding company and was later approached for stunt
piloting in the film, “Rivals of the Air”. Her proficiency won her many
competition prizes and distinguished medals.

Candid photo of Hanna in her aircraft

Naturally,
when war broke out in Europe for the second time, Hanna’s aptitude for flying made
her highly qualified for the Luftwaffe. Reitsch became the first female helicopter
pilot and was also one of the few to fly the first fully controllable
helicopter, which earned her the Military Flying Medal. Her well mannered
demeanor and good looks (particularly an Aryan look) made her a propaganda gem
for the Nazi Party, which became her primary claim to fame.

To keep up
appearances, Hanna ran daily ‘missions’ and partook in various expeditions in the
late 1930s. But one of her major tasks was to test pilot all the latest and
greatest aircraft in production. She would provide detailed reports on how the
aircraft handled and any concerns that may arise for other pilots. Hanna crash
landed only once during her time as a test pilot, which put her in the hospital
for five months. Despite her injuries, she was still able to give a full
detailed report on the aircraft. That particular incident earned her the Iron
Cross First Class.

Hanna Reitsch propaganda

As her notoriety
grew, her influence with military hierarchy grew alongside it. After visiting
the Luftwaffe on the eastern front, post Battle of Stalingrad, Hanna presented
Hitler with the idea of suicide flight bombers, known as Operation Suicide. This operation would entail volunteers to fly
gliders into enemy targets, essentially acting as gigantic bombs. At first,
Hitler believed the situation for Germany did not warrant such an extreme plan;
however, by the summer of 1944, the plan was set in motion. Reitsch began test
piloting suitable gliders and made several successful flights before training
the volunteers. The operation was never employed; by the time training would
have been sufficient, the war had taken a terrible turn for Germany. Regardless,
the idea that a well mannered woman could enact such an extreme plan suggests
her determination for German victory.

When the
Russian Red Army began heavy bombardment of Berlin, Hitler invited Reitsch to
his Führerbunker. The Red Army was already invading the area when she flew into
Berlin. Her low altitude flight training served her well, enabling her to find
an alternative escape route, landing close to the bunker. Upon arrival, Hitler
gave Hanna a vial of poison, fully prepared to die alongside her leader.
However, before such drastic measures were needed, an escape plan was
initiated. Using the same improvised airstrip as before, Reitsch was able to
successfully take off despite the Red Army’s advances.

Hanna meeting Adolf Hitler

Nevertheless,
soon after her escape from Berlin, Hanna was captured by American military
intelligence officers and was questioned as to why she had left the Führerbunker
on April 28, 1945. Her statement included little detail, only that she was
disappointed she could not die alongside the leader of her country. Hanna was
particularly inexperienced in regards to Hitler’s ulterior motives for Germany.
She refused to believe the atrocities Hitler and Nazi regime committed during
the war, believing the rumors to be falsified. When questioned, those around
her validated her convictions that the news was indeed fiction. They wanted to
keep her in the dark to protect their propaganda agenda. She spent the remainder
of the war in captivity.

Hanna meeting Pres. John F. Kennedy

After
war’s end, Hanna settled in Frankfurt and began flying gliders once several of the
bans for German citizens were lifted. She continued with flying competitions as
before the war, becoming a German champion in 1955. She was able to break the
women’s altitude record in 1957 and earned her first diamond of the Gold-C
badge. In 1959, she was invited to India to institute a gliding center; then, in
1961 she was invited to the White House by President Kennedy. The celebrity of
her career followed her for the rest of her life, but she was determined to
follow her heart’s first desire one way or another. In the mid 1960s, Hanna
moved to Ghana, establishing the first black African gliding school.

At first,
the people of Ghana were apprehensive of Reitsch past, but it quickly became apparent
that she was politically naïve and her past opinions no longer rang true. She
felt a kindred spirit with the friendships she built in Ghana and had a new
respect for other cultures. However, despite building a new life for herself in
Africa, Hanna could never fully shake the events of the war, especially while
in the Fuhrer’s bunker. She loved Germany with a passion and believed the country
had deep regret for the war, but were more upset they had lost. Hanna returned
to Frankfurt but unfortunately died shortly after, at 67 years old, in 1979.
She would never marry, nor have children to carry on her legacy. It has been
rumored Hanna kept the poison Hitler had given her so many years ago and that she
finally used it under the pact she and another had made; however, it is more universally
believed she died from a heart attack.

Reitsch test piloting.

In the end,
Hanna had written four autobiographies and has been portrayed in various films,
three of which were produced before her death.

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The National D-Day Memorialis run by a private, non-profit educational foundation in Bedford, Virginia that seeks to preserve the lessons and legacy of D-Day, June 6, 1944.

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I work as the Education Coordinator for the National D-Day Memorial planning a variety of family-friendly programs for students of all ages. It is my passion to present history in a way that is fun and engaging.